test technician

mechanical technician

nondestructive testing technician

technician

machine operator

Element Materials Technology

The workplace is very different from what it once was after the previous owner retired. The current leadership creates an environment where employees feel like numbers instead of valued members of the team. Upper management appears disconnected from the day-to-day realities of the production floor and rarely provides meaningful support when issues arise. Decisions often seem to be made without input from the employees who are directly affected, creating unnecessary frustration and inefficiency.

Management frequently emphasizes the importance of teamwork, yet there is little evidence of leadership leading by example. Employees are expected to solve problems with minimal guidance while upper management remains largely absent from daily operations. Accountability appears to be applied inconsistently, which has contributed to declining morale and a perception that standards depend on who you are rather than what you do.

In my experience, production goals consistently take priority over employee concerns, safety, and quality. Safety initiatives often feel more like a talking point than a genuine commitment, and injured employees do not always receive the level of concern or follow-up that would demonstrate they are truly valued. Quality also seems to become secondary when production numbers are under pressure, leaving employees feeling that doing things the right way is less important than meeting quotas.

Morale is low, and many employees appear burned out, undervalued, and frustrated. There are still a few managers and staff members who genuinely care about their teams and work hard despite the challenges, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Until upper management becomes more visible, accountable, and willing to support the people responsible for the company’s success, I do not see the workplace culture improving.

Sexism and racism were recurring issues at my location, yet Human Resources was basically non-existent. It turns out that the sales team is actually all the corporate executives care about, and despite them being out of touch with the reality of each branch, they will prioritize the sales team over everyone else by default. We were told by corporate on several occasions that sales were the focus of the company of Element as a whole. That is a huge deal. They claim that accurate results and excellent customer service is the priority - their actions and their own words, when they’re not trying to sell you on their company culture, prove otherwise. I’ll give you just ONE brief example, though there are countless. At one location, there was a long time employee who made a complaint about a racist remark from a newly hired member of the outside sales staff (an incident which had several witnesses who corroborated the story) and was basically laughed out of his meeting with the visiting corporate HR rep - after this, the person alleged to make the racist remark was informed of the accusation and given the name of their accuser. They were then not given any consequences and were free to harass their coworker again. This was not the only issue I had with the company, but frankly I don’t have the time to type it all out. I would never work for anyone associated with this terrible company ever again. My pay was excellent and I was due for a promotion; this is simply a soulless and savage corporation. Working for Element drove me into a deep depression and made me question my beliefs and morals on a daily basis. There’s not much else to say.

I usually start my day early, and get the opportunity to meet and greet almost every other colleague as they start their work. Such friendly encounters provide an ideal start to the day. Working as part of a team spread between 3 cities in Australia, I usually engage in a quick daily meeting with the rest of my team in the morning as we plan for the day. 

My work requires me to engage in a few ongoing projects at any given time. Therefore, throughout the day, I am usually in contact with individual members of my team, discussing various tasks. Being an assessment engineer, some of my projects require the development of analytical and mathematical models which, at times, can be complex. However, having other team members who are capable of helping with such tasks, and the ease of communicating with them makes my work enjoyable. 

Within a period of few months, the senior management arranged several training programmes for the new employees, including myself, to build our skills in various areas relating to our jobs. These included training sessions conducted by overseas consultant on the use of specific engineering software to conduct advanced analyses. Therefore, the focus on improving individual skills is a significant part of the workplace culture.

In all instances where I have requested some flexibility with respect to my working arrangements, my managers have given approval without hesitation. This has been very helpful as it has allowed me to successfully maintain my work/life balance. This, in fact, is the most enjoyable part of my job.

The people there are great, and work well together. Communication and consistent direction from the management team has been lacking at times, but is showing good signs of improvement. The company is large enough that growth and career advancement opportunities are common if you truly apply yourself.

The job culture is terrible. The "Us Versus Them" mentality tends to run rampant at all levels. Also, the profit sharing program limits the ability to negotiate annual salary increases for the employee base, so, if you come here, negotiate for what you want up front as annual raises can sometimes be extremely low. The typical corporate practice of bringing in new employees at equal or higher pay as the current, experienced staff, is also a complaint of mine. While it is an attempt to bring in a "better class" of employees, it does alienate the trained staff. As stated, this is something that I have seen time and again in other companies, so is not necessarily a negative.

The hardest part of the job is learning it, and making sure your supervisors actually train you to your position. The learning curve is 6-12 months minimum. The best parts are the people, and the fact that all the company does is break stuff for testing results. It's a little kid's dream job in some cases.

Overall, my experience with the company has been remarkably positive, and I would recommend it to other people for sure.

Everyone that works there was promised 20-24+ an hour until they got their final offer letter. In the time I was there, we made over a million dollars a month PROFIT yet we lost our paid lunch, lost the ability to come in early or stay late, lost overtime, and lost raises. The raise given (to 4 employees) on my shift was less than 3%. They used abrasive cut-off wheels that created a large amount of smoke that filled the lungs and caused operators to gag. We were refused proper ppe and given medical dust masks instead. Someone was injured with a 5 inch slice down their wrist millimeters away from their  radial artery. They were blamed for another employee stacking parts to high, and the report was never filed as a near miss. Frequently they would fail to secure orders on time and would wait for you to drive into work to tell you "go home without pay." They don't have air conditioning or any ventilation in the shop making it stuffy and extremely hot in the summer. In the last 6 months 3 people quit and 4 more were on their way out due to the conditions. Almost no PTO, and I have never worked at a company that offered 15+ benefit options that REQUIRED you to pay for them, like basic job related life insurance.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I've worked for Element for a little more than a year since they acquired the company where I started. They've cut benefits and bonuses. I suppose one good thing could be they promote the corporate lattice and encourage people to consider opportunities at other locations. However, they're so all over the place with their acquisitions, I've never seen this work out for anyone. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Company doesn't seem to care about employee retention. Their life sciences division is bleeding knowledge and those left behind just keep getting piled onto. There's a difference between fast-paced and frantic. Element is frantic. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Make the corporate overlords money or get ready for layoffs.  Additionally, everyone is so busy just trying to get things done, it's difficult to find time to train or be trained. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I rarely have time for lunch or even breaks. Full-time employees aren't offered OT and there is immense pressure to get too much done in one day. Also, their idiotic safety measures and stupidly strict lone-worker rules make it impossible to stay late even if people were willing.

Management only cares about their own ladder of success. The company would much rather allocate their resources within, than hire outside to backfill positions. The plant is full of people being paid to work under one position, performing multiple positions worth of labor every day. Raises are rare and avoided. Base level pay even for excellent employees working far above their pay grade. OT isn’t “available” it’s expected. Expect to work 60 hr weeks in an extremely toxic, poorly staffed environment. Lunch breaks are shamed upon for taking time away from the time you are to give to the company. Entire location worked past exhaustive burn out. Techs will not adhere to quality. Corrupt testing practices get ignored by management. You will have no work / home ratio. Just work. They expect your job to consume your life and they will push to make that reality, just to rake in optimal revenue. Pushover employees are bound to be taken extreme advantage of here. Management has close ties with higher up bosses and will easily avoid consequences when reporting is necessary. 

I like working for Element, I can genuinely say that. I've worked my way up from entry level and been supported the whole way. I have been given opportunities for qualifications and experience. I now manage a team of 10 great people, so although I could be seen as "management", I've been through the stages to get here.

Safety is first. Lots of companies say it, but Element genuinely means it. If you have concerns, do not feel safe, feel pressured in any way, you're praised for raising it. 

I work in a remote sector of the business and even though I have never and would never expect to have contact with the CEO, this is the type of organisation where I feel I could reach out and it would be okay. My management listens, are always contactable and are as flexible as possible. 

I've had frustrations, felt I've been underpaid or overworked at times but when given the opportunity to prove value, its been rewarded!

Where the business could improve is communication. However, I feel this was somewhat noticed over the past year and has been improving.

I am writing this at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and I honestly can't fault how supportive Element have been. They have gone above and beyond throughout this experience. In a challenging time that tests businesses, Element has received an A+ from me.

Great coworkers to work with as well as some of the lower level management.  They are caring, warm and have great work ethic (albeit major job discontentment).  The mid level and upper management are terrible. Their expectations tend to be very unrealistic.  For example, management tends to complain about allowing overtime, yet they expect you to perform an amount of work that isn't achievable within 40 hours.   A common practice within the past two years is for management to alter your time worked.  If you go over 40 hours, management will go into the timekeeping system and change your punch in/out time to show 40 hours. It's a good stepping stone to learn the trade but it is not a place to expect advancement or to expect any sort of respect or dignity.  They discourage independent thought or problem solving.  The pay is poor to mediocre at best and you are lucky to get 25 cent raises.  The morale is very low and many employees are grumbling about the same shared complaints found in other reviews here.   It seems like a sinking ship getting ready to capsize.

This lab specializes in materials testing, but it will also test your patience and your limits of sanity. It’s a good place to start a career in analytical testing, but a terrible place to stick around. Management loves to claim that they pay a competitive wage. I was doing the work of a chemist, but getting the compensation of just a lab tech (from 2019). I was definitely overqualified, over worked, under appreciated and under paid. I was constantly drowning in work while others had very little to do. I trained several others to help out, but help never came. Management never did anything about it despite communicating these issues directly to management several times. I’m sure this all sounds like the rantings of a disgruntled employee, but I assure you that I am not bitter. It was just an abusive situation, and I am SO happy to be out. Looking back I don’t know how I ever put up with it without diving head first into a wood chipper. I can’t complain too much; with a B.S. in chemistry and 10 years of practical experience I qualified for a process engineer 2 position (elsewhere of course). Overall I’m glad I moved on.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Test technician 32 salaries reported	$26.07 per hour
Mechanical technician 15 salaries reported	$25.17 per hour
Nondestructive testing technician 18 salaries reported	$29.58 per hour
Technician 14 salaries reported	$23.43 per hour
Machine operator 13 salaries reported	$24.92 per hour

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